Tahki’s only goal is to become a world-famous architect, even if that means betraying his father’s wishes by abandoning his comfortable life for one of unpredictable danger.

After Tahki blindly accepts what he thinks will be a dream job, his skills as an architect are put to the test as he is given the bizarre—and slightly unethical—task of turning a remote castle into a new-age machine for Prince Dyraien. The castle provides a challenge unlike any he’s had before, and Tahki finds the only way he’ll be able to succeed is to swallow his pride and work alongside Rye, a guarded young man who is quick to see the flaws in both Tahki and his work.

Yet the looming deadline proves to be the least of Tahki’s troubles. When a horrifying creature begins to haunt him, Tahki turns to Rye for help. The more he learns about the history of the castle, the more terrifying the hauntings become. Even with Rye by his side, Tahki realizes achieving his dream might send him down a dark path from which he can’t return.

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **Reviewed for Divine Magazine

Wow! This was a rollercoaster ride. And it is not your typical read.

The best way to describe this book is an adventure. It takes you places you don't expect to go, makes you feel things that you wouldn't normally feel, and keeps you firmly in its grip from page one to The End, as it does it.

This story is as much about family, brotherhood, and friendship as it is about the mystery of the castle. It takes elements of various cultures (Tibetan, Japanese, American Indian) to create a unique world that has various countries and states, various religions, and manages to weave a well crafted story throughout them all.

For me, the characters shone through beyond most other debut novels. Each character had their own well explored personality, their own quirks and attitudes. Despite Tahki being reckless and never listening, he's trying so hard to prove himself and, through doing that, makes mistakes that teach him to be himself and who he really is. It's a beautiful journey that was incredible to witness. Rye was the mysterious, hard to figure out, love interest who was maybe too cranky to actually be a love interest, and I loved that. I never quite knew where I stood with him, until he opened up to Tahki. As for Sornjia, he was perhaps my favourite character of all. Though he didn't get a lot of page time, the times he did spent on page were brilliantly written, and I learned a little something new about him each time. In fact, I would LOVE to see him get his own novel. Nudge-nudge wink-wink. From the start, I do admit that I felt Tahki's doubts about Dyraien and understood why Sornjia was wary, but then I also understood Tahki's resistence to believing there was anything wrong. There were a million logical – and not so logical – explanations for what was happening to him, and I love that they were treated realistically, each and every time.

If anything, this story takes you on a psychological journey. It's a mystery that plays with your mind, makes you doubt yourself, and makes you wonder if you and Tahki are just as crazy as each other. But then Sornjia steps in and suddenly everything makes sense again. It's a crazy, brilliant ride.

I can't say too much about the plot without giving it away, so I'm just going to say this –

the world building was impeccablethe writing was right up my alleythe level of description, charactersation, and attention to detail were perfectand I cried.

I can't ask for anything more.

For a debut book, I can honestly say that I have only ever been this excited and this firmly rooted in the plot, characters, and execution twice before: once for Sean Kerr's Dead Camp series, and once for the impeccable Wehr Wolff Castle, by Bentley Summers. This one is right up there, and will be joining the other two on my paperback shelf just as soon as it's available to buy.

~

Favourite Quotes

“Tahki breathed deeply, his entire body relaxed, and he thought if he could have Rye like this, he wouldn't need fame, or the castle, or the approval of a prince. If Rye could be his from now on, he would ask for nothing more.”

During the rise of Nazi Germany, Hagen Messer joins the Royal Air Force as an American soldier who specializes in tracking. He’s attached to British commandos and given a seemingly simple mission—to find a captive and destroy a dam—but everything goes awry. Hagen’s plane crashes into Germany’s Wehr Forest and he has to use his extrasensory abilities to track the captive to nearby Wehr Wolff Castle, a secret Nazi base where vile experiments are being conducted.

Hagen and his surviving team members must sneak into the castle and devise a way to destroy the experimental labs creating diabolical creatures. Hagen is horrified to find Nazis and scientists with no scruples, and at the most inconvenient time, he learns that he may be in love with one of his teammates, an Irishman named Liam. In order to protect his love and his friends, Hagen must feign nonchalance amidst pure degeneracy and suspicion. Hagen soon discovers, though, that he is in over his head.

What may not only redeem him, but also save his lover and friends, is a childhood past and a darkness lurking deep inside him, just waiting to be engaged.

Confident businessman Joel Rhodes sees the small California town of Lavender Shores as nothing more than a business opportunity and a final stepping stone to the position he’s been working toward his entire life. It was supposed to be just one night in town to close the deal, and sleeping with one of the local men, no matter how gorgeous, meant nothing more than a few hours of fun.Andrew Kelly is perfectly content with the life he has in his hometown. So much so that the only thing missing is someone to share it with. Going to bed with a tourist was never meant to be the answer to his dreams, just a beautiful distraction. He could get back to looking for Mr. Right the next day.Both Andrew’s and Joel’s worlds are turned upside down when a few hours of pleasure get extended to a couple of days. Even that shouldn’t have been a big deal. You can’t fall in love in that amount of time. That isn’t how it works. However, if destinies collide, a few short days may be all it takes to find your soul mate. Even so, when secrets and motivations get tangled, fate may do nothing more than leave two hearts in pieces.

Detective Jamison Landry’s job isn’t easy. He’s dealt with the worst criminals imaginable and believes in his work and the community he serves. But he’s never met someone quite like Mal before.

The mysterious man, rescued from a basement in which he was chained by cultists, keeps Jamison guessing. He both confuses and excites him, and Jamison isn’t sure how he feels about that. Plus, things turn from unusual to downright strange when people start insisting Mal isn’t quite human. And Jamison’s creepy dreams of crows and graveyards don’t make things any better for him.

Will Mal stay around long enough for Jamison to figure out his secrets, or will this stranger leave him aching for more?

Legends tell of large cats defending the principality of Tournai, but such creatures have been lost to time.

Or have they?

Prince Philip inherited the throne at a young age, and since then, his life has centered around ruling his country and resisting those pressuring him to take a wife and conceive an heir—forcing him to hide his attraction to men. When kind-hearted Amory is offered to the prince in exchange for more time for Amory’s father to complete a commission, both Philip and Amory are horrified. But Philip agrees to keep Amory at the palace, where they gradually become friends, then lovers. For the first time in his life, Philip is free to share not only his heart, but the magical shape-shifting ability that runs in the royal bloodline.

Neither Amory nor Philip imagined falling in love, and they certainly don’t expect the lengths those who oppose their relationship will go to keep them apart—maybe even resorting to murder.

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